Newsletter No 2 2006

Hi everyone,

It's Stuart here from 'Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures' with our second newsletter for the year. Winter is almost over and those cold bitter mornings behind us and it couldn't come sooner if you ask me. Spring is on our doorstep and with it comes warmer conditions, longer days and lots more fish!!!!!!

Over the winter period the fishing was a little up and down depending on what system we were fishing but overall quite good. The bigger systems certainly quietened down especially during late July/early August with the cold water present (anywhere between 7deg-12deg). But the estuaries down south (Merimbula, Pambula, Bega River and Wonboyn) certainly turned on some fantastic sportsfishing especially Pambula. Over the cold period this place was on fire and even as I write the fishing is still pretty good. Some of our sessions were between the 50-60 fish mark with bream, salmon, tailor, trevally and flathead the majority of species caught.

By catch of monster winter whiting and big blackfish made a timely appearance at times. All this action was in fast water channel techniques with soft plastics the only way to catch them. Berkleys ever-reliable 3inch bass minnows were the standout lure in a number of colours. The squidgy flikbaits, Juro firebaits and squidgy wrigglers also caught their fare share of fish also. Merimbula lake (top section) had some huge tailor in there this winter, with some decent snapper to. When the tailor were on the job, multiple hook-ups on 2kg choppers was the norm. Pretty exciting fishing on light gelspun line. The reds were good size to with fish over the 45cm quite common, with the odd big flathead too. The channel section from the main highway bridge downstream fished well for bream and trevally most of the winter.

Narooma and Tuross saw some excellent bream fishing around the racks and snags especially in Tuross. Good fish were also encounted over the weed edges and rock bars. Some days they were very cagey and hard to entice, but other days more than willing to hit hard bodies and soft plastics with gusto. This is a great estuary system to fish since the professionals were bought out a few years ago and will only get better over time!

The next 3 months (Sept, Oct and Nov) especially the latter 2 months are my favourite months to wet a line on the South Coast. Oct and Nov sees the big breeding female flathead get into there spawning routine and systems like Narooma’s Wagonga Inlet come alive during this time. If its a monster flathead your after this is prime time to target one with last year producing many fish over the 85cm mark. These big girls are a true trophy fish and should always be let go to do their thing. Other species that start to move in this time are Mulloway and bream. The yellowfin bream are entering the estuary mouths once again after spending time in the open ocean beaches and rocky outcrops doing their spawning thing also. Black bream will start to head down stream from the upper reaches of tidal zones and move back into the saltier water the further we head into the year. Mulloway are always present in most estuaries I think, but the increase population of tailor and squid during October sees them come into calculations also.

As you can see most species are moving around and this time is the start of the true season for these bigger estuaries. I have a great saying during this transition period-Expect the unexpected when throwing lures and hang on.

On a personal note we have a number of things happening over the coming months. The land based locations guide I have written for Fishvictoria.com on the South Coast is almost finished and should be ready by the end of the year to purchase. We are doing another DVD with Fishing World magazine in September targeting bream only. Really looking forward to this as the bream action in September can be awesome especially for Big fish. Hopefully in November we will try and do another show with Paul and Lee from IFISH targeting monster flatties and jewies in Wagonga Inlet Narooma, we'll see how time is treating the boy’s schedules and us.

That’s about it everyone for this newsletter. If your keen on targeting monster flathead and mulloway I suggest you get down the coast this October and November. This season we are offering some great package deals with accommodation, 2 full days guiding (10hr days) and lunch/dinner supplied for 2 days. If you’re interested and want more details just give us a buzz for prices, availability etc.

Tight lines all

Stuart Hindson
Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures